Is RTD Boss Dave Genova Doing the Best He Can for Denver Transit?

The agency is struggling, but the RTD Board just voted to give the agency chief a small bonus.

The RTD Board of Directors gave General Manager and CEO Dave Genova a small bonus Tuesday by a vote of 8 to 7. Genova will receive a one-time bump of $2,850, or 1 percent of his current salary.

The sum is pretty small in the scheme of things, but the optics aren’t good. RTD is cutting bus and rail service, juggling a severe driver shortage, and answering for the delayed G and N lines.

“It’s not that I think the amount of money is huge — I think it’s symbolic,” said Ean Thomas Tafoya, a board member at the Colorado Latino Forum, which came out against the bonus.

Dave Genova

Genova’s salary isn’t going to affect RTD’s big budget problems: The agency is serving a growing area with stagnant funding levels, and coping with a $6 million-per-year punch to the budget thanks to a legislative snafu.

But his actions can make the most of the hand he’s been dealt. The vote on his salary is a good time to ask: Is Genova doing a good job running the region’s transit agency?

As an advocate for the services he oversees, Genova hasn’t always spoken up when it could have made a difference. Last month his agency remained neutral on legislation that would create new funding stream — $10 million a year — to provide an income-based fare pass.

RTD is “sending a bad message,” said Jenee Donelson, a transit organizer at 9to5 Colorado. “You’re showing people exactly what you care about, and it’s not them. It’s not the people who ride the bus.”

Genova and the RTD Board of Directors will have a chance to redeem themselves and get behind the bill when it goes before the Colorado General Assembly next session.

Another potential source of revenue is to charge more for parking at RTD’s rail stations — which would also be good transportation policy. RTD can’t charge residents to park by Colorado law, and the agency forgoes $22 million annually because of it. Genova gets some points for having his staff study the problem, but neither he nor the RTD Board have advocated publicly to change the status quo.

Under Genova, RTD also elected to keep throwing away resources on the new but sparsely used R line, which just doesn’t serve the type of compact, walkable areas that are conducive to transit. RTD’s resources would be better spent increasing bus service where many people will use it, but RTD caved to pressure from Aurora officials and the media, choosing to prop up R service instead. (As it happens, an Aurora rep on the RTD board provided one of the votes for Genova’s bonus.)

Then there’s RTD’s driver shortage. The agency has tried to fill vacancies by offering slightly higher wages and bonuses, but it hasn’t been enough to provide all the service RTD is supposed to under its current schedules.

Genova has some successes under his belt. He oversaw the on-time opening of the A and B lines and the successful Flatiron Flyer bus line between Denver and Boulder — all with growing ridership. But the G line is still more than a year behind schedule and the N line’s opening is anyone’s guess.

Mobile ticketing and real-time arrival information also went live under Genova’s leadership.

“I think he’s done some good things, but I think what he’s done is included in his regular pay,” District K Director Paul Solano told Streetsblog. “The agency is not taking care of the core backbone, and that’s the drivers, the mechanics… We can’t keep drivers because number one we don’t pay them enough.”

Bonus or no bonus, after nearly two years at the helm at RTD, Genova has a mixed track record. The year ahead will be a critical one, with an important legislative session coming up, a new union contract to be negotiated, and RTD expected to overhaul its fare pass program.

What’s he getting a bonus for? Persistent A line problems or the two other rail lines which haven’t yet opened? Or maybe it’s Denver’s terrible bus service and network?

TakeFive

Good Grief. I couldn’t care less what you think of Aurora or the R Line but you should know what the basic rules are by now. It is worth noting that Aurora, as the 2nd largest netro city, pays a big portion of taxes collected by RTD.

FasTracks was approved by a majority of voters in the 8 counties that make up the RTD District in 2004. It wasn’t a textbook system; rather it’s a suburb to city spoke and wheel design intended to guide and encourage future growth and development in the metro area around the system. FasTracks clearly defined how the four-tenths cent tax would be spent. It was intended for a metro system of light and commuter rail. The money can not be commingled with the six-tenths cent previously approved for RTD general operations. It has to go into a separate account for capital construction of what the voters approved.

Ian Wheat

Another important thing to watch is how he and RTD handle the final planning, construction and implementation of Colfax BRT. It would be very unfortunate and telling of their convictions if RTD supports the BRT being compromised by car driver demand for more single occupancy vehicle lanes or parking. Other things that would be wonderful to see is a push and planning support to expand the dedicated BRT lanes into aurora, west Denver and eventually Lakewood. Not to mention the need to BRT on Colorado Blvd and the expansion, enhancement of the Broadway/Lincoln dedicated bus lanes into true BRT that serves a larger region.

Roads_Wide_Open

Colfax BRT is being planned by and going to be run by Denver. RTD has nothing to do with it.

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